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Hannah Lacamp
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Hannah Lacamp
With the new school year also comes a new playground for the students at Hill School in south Fort Worth.
The school — Fort Worth's only full-service school for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, high-functioning ASD, and other learning differences — recently unveiled new outdoor spaces as part of its $500,000 Take It Outside initiative. Hill School worked with Denton-based North Rock Construction to build a playground with soft rubber surfacing, learning spaces like a covered outdoor classroom, a 60-meter running track, basketball court, and more.
According to a news release, the outdoor spaces are meant to "empower students, provide rich sensory experiences, offer cross-curricular learning, stimulate physical and cognitive development, and promote social and emotional growth."
Hill School raised funding for the Take It Outside campaign with the help of community foundations and Hill School board members, families, faculty, and staff. Among the biggest donors was the Marlene and Spencer Hays Foundation, which provided a $175,000 gift.
"The timing couldn’t be better for us to complete our Take It Outside campaign,” Susan Little, director of development at Hill School, said in a statement. “Our new outdoor learning areas not only provide Hill’s 110 students with more opportunities for social distancing and fresh air intake but also offer creative spaces for cross-curricular learning while aiding in social, emotional, physical, and mental well-being. We are proud of this huge milestone and are so thankful to the philanthropic foundations, donors, and supporters who made it possible.”
